Joomla Templates Usability Score

Written by Merav Knafo

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 21:13

Every month, I'll be reviewing the newest templates from the leading Joomla template providers. I'm not going to test look-and-feel or backend usability. I'm going to focus solely on front-end usability: the ease with which anyone can create a user-friendly website using this template.

The criteria on which I'll be judging the sites are based on my article "12 Usability Guidelines Every Joomla Template Should Follow." But those are now ten guidelines. To make the math easier and the criteria more consistent, I’ve removed the "banners on top" requirement and the rule that templates should "Free the Width of the Right and Left Positions." Although I think having banners on top does make the publisher’s life easier, it doesn't help usability for the visitor. And the width flexibility is a backend usability so I’m not going to consider it… at least for now.

The remaining criteria then are:

Utilities Menu
Call to Action on the Right
Search on Top Right
Site Intro Box
Footer Menu
Big Logo image
Links Look Like Links
Get the Text Size Right
Make the Navigation Clear
Use Both Sides of the Screen

To read about each item, please refer to the original article.

I’m going to be reviewing templates from the following providers:

Each requirement met will win 1 point. The best templates then can score 10 out of 10.

From time to time I will also include templates that have been around for a while, just to mix it up and bring out templates that I think have excellent usability. So, let's get started!!

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